Low-budget MARVELs

[Space Pirate Roberts]

From CHUD:

EXCLUSIVE: MARVEL'S EXCITING SMALL MOVIE PLANS

No, this isn't an Ant-Man story.

Where does Marvel go after getting bigger than any other superhero movie when they release The Avengers? They rein it in and get smaller.

Marvel Studios is currently taking meetings with writers and directors to work on small scale movies based on some of their third tier characters. The movies would cost in the range of 20 to 40 million dollars (very small when we're talking studio films) and would allow them to take risks with less obvious characters and with interesting talent.

Filmmakers are being offered their pick of characters whose names are only familiar to comic fans. Properties like Dr. Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack are among the many that are being tossed around right now. And the attitude seems to be that Marvel is open to bringing any of their characters to the screen at the right price point.

In a lot of ways this is revolutionary. While superhero movies such as Kick-Ass have been made at a lower price point, the big studio system seems unable to keep costs down (Marvel has been just as guilty of this, by the way. Their films were supposed to be cheaper originally). This plan allows Marvel much more flexibility; a 100 million dollar Dazzler movie makes no sense, but one budgeted at 25 million - done right - could be a moneymaker. And at a lower budget these movies don't need to be quite so mainstream. A 20 million dollar film can take much bigger risks than one that costs a hundred million more than that.

Who knows what will be the first small film announced; Marvel has been meeting with people for some time now, and I don't think they're going to wait for The Avengers to be released before they start planning the next phase. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a smaller film was being developed alongside The Avengers.

This initiative is going to allow Marvel (and new owner Disney) to get more of their brands out into the public eye, and it will allow them to continue building their cinematic universe in intriguing ways. It could also mean that up and coming filmmakers or less mainstream directors could suddenly have the chance to play in the big Marvel sandbox. While Warner Bros is still just reving the engine of their DC Superhero movies, Marvel seems to have a plan that's going to allow them to keep their characters at the forefront.

Sounds good, except that Dr. Strange belongs on the tentpole list.

[AaronChance]

Doc Strange is better served by not trying to be another Iron Man.

[cka]

roger cormans captain america > that

edit:

[Dolemite]

I totally love the idea of this. It's a great plan for every reason stated in the article and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

[YellerDog]

Sounds like they're trying to make back some of that money from "Jumper" and "Precious: Based on the novel Push, by Sapphire" that could have been theirs.

[Anal Kaboom]

OMGOMGOMG TERRY CREWS AS LUKE CAGE I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT BUT MAKE IT HAPPEN.

[Dolemite]

BLOCKS ODOR FOR 16 HOUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSS

[Anal Kaboom]

BUILDING KIIIIIIIIIICK

[DumpTruck]

OMGOMGOMG TERRY CREWS AS LUKE CAGE I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT BUT MAKE IT HAPPEN.

[Dolemite]

Hmm...interesting. This could be very cool.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45516

Sources for Latino Review say Marvel's looking into an ingenious way to introduce crowds to its "secondary characters." Does "secondary" mean B-list? I'm thinking it does...

Got a scoop from a well trusted source that Marvel/Disney are looking at doing 10 minute short films in front of their feature length movies that will introduce secondary characters like Black Panther, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, etc.

...says LR HERE.

I can easily imagine this happening. 'Twould be a high-visibility, low-impact means of not only exposing audiences to characters not as familiar as, say, IRON MAN or CAPTAIN AMERICA - and would also serve as an excellent mechanism for gauging public and fan interest in seeing those same characters revisited in a longer format.

LR pointedly reminds us to consider this a "rumor" until more information is gleaned, but it's a fascinating (and fun) idea that I'd love to see put into motion.